PhotoNOLA’s Portfolio Review program offers emerging to established photographers the chance to present their work to influential members of the photographic community. Photographers convene for two days of face-to-face meetings with gallery owners, editors, publishers and museum curators.

After the reviews conclude, each reviewer is asked to note three outstanding projects. The PhotoNOLA 2017 Review Prize Winners are:

From Jacob Riis' "How the Other Half Lives" to more recent contemporary documentary projects, photographers have captured the ephemera of everyday life as it coexists with markers of marginalization - poverty, drug use, and domestic violence - to provide points of both familiar connection and disjuncture for viewers. In dialogue with art historian Catherine Wilkins, photographers Matt Eich, Annie Flanagan, and Jared Ragland will discuss their work in struggling American communities and share how they, like Riis, employ the "foreign domestic" to provide richer, more nuanced portraits of people on the periphery while offering viewers opportunities for empathic identification and increased understanding.

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02.26.18 // EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALL RIGHT AT HAMPDEN SYDNEY

A short-term exhibition of Everything Is Going To Be All Right is on view at the Viar-Christ Center for the Arts at Hampden Sydney College in Farmville, VA. The installation is arranged as an allusion to the Isenheim Altarpiece and turns the new Hampden Sydney College art gallery into a small chapel.

A free, public lecture on the project, is scheduled for Monday, February 26, at 7:00 pm in Hampden-Sydney College's Brinkley Hall.

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01.25.18 // DO IT OPENS AT MOBILE MUSEUM OF ART

What would happen if an exhibition never stopped? Since it began in 1993, with this question being asked by Hans Ulrich Obrist and artists Christian Boltanski and Bertrand Lavier, do it has become the longest-running and most far-reaching exhibition ever to have happened – constantly evolving and generating evermore relevant new versions of itself. do it has toured to venues from New York to Manchester, Budapest to Salt Lake City, and Kosovo to Moscow. And now, from January 26 to July 1, 2018, do it is opening at the Mobile Museum of Art.

From artist/writer/educator Jonathan Blaustein: (Jared’s work) was the most complete, compelling project I saw, and I voted for it for the Photo NOLA prize.

Jared used to work with Pete Souza in Obama’s White House. (An era that now seems like Martin Sheen’s TV presidency, for all the similarities it shares with contemporary reality.) But Jared is originally from Alabama, and returned home to turn his attention to the meth epidemic that is ravaging the NE part of the state.

The pictures are genuinely visceral, as they make a viewer feel uncomfortable. They show something decidedly ugly, and real, but the strong aesthetics give the ride a bit of turbo boost. Additionally, Jared worked with a sociologist to give the project a sense of academic rigor.

Abstract:
Photo-elicitation is a qualitative interview technique where researchers solicit responses, reactions, and insights from participants by using photographs or other images as stimuli. Images can be researcher-generated or participant-generated and each has particular benefits and challenges. Though not new, the use of images within criminology is an underused technique. In this paper we advocate the use of photo-elicitation techniques suggesting that they offer a powerful addition to standard data collection and presentation techniques. In making our case, we draw on our experiences from an 18-month long photo-ethnography of people living in rural Alabama who use methamphetamine. The ethnography consisted of formal interviews and informal observations with 52 participants and photography of 29 of them. While we draw on our overall experiences from the project we focus specifically on the photographs generated by, and taken of, one key participant—Alice. We demonstrate the benefits and challenges of using photo elicitation interviews with vulnerable individuals such as Alice, by considering themes such as representation, empowerment and emotionality. Additionally, we highlight the practical and ethical issues that confront researchers who incorporate the visual into their research.

To mark the bicentennial of Alabama’s creation as a territory, this exhibition includes both established makers along with younger, emerging artists to examine the current vitality of artistic creativity found throughout the state. Focusing on new and innovative works produced within the last few years, this survey demonstrates not only a commitment to community and place, but also a dedication to highlighting new viewpoints and practices. Showcasing a mixture of art in various media and two- and three-dimensional forms, the exhibition positions current contemporary artistic practices by artists in Alabama within a broader global context of art making. The exhibition features two photographs from Where You Come From is Gone and runs through January 21, 2018.
For more information visit: http://mmfa.org/exhibitions/uncommon-territory-contemporary-art-in-alabama/.

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10.05.2017 // GOOD BAD PEOPLE OPENS AT IN/OUT TRANSYLVANIA FOTO FESTIVAL, ROMANIA
A solo exhibition of GOOD BAD PEOPLE will be on view during the 2nd annual In/Out Transylvania Foto Festival, October 6-15 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. In addition to the exhibition, a video slideshow featuring images from GOOD BAD PEOPLE will be screened at an evening event.

The In/Out Transylvania Foto Festival is the first documentary photography festival in Romania and is a project initiated by Fotopia Collective, a photography organization founded to support documentary photography and photojournalism in Romania . ......................................

07.11.2017 // WHERE YOU COME FROM IS GONE OPENS AT LOWE MILL

Through the spring of 2017 Cary Norton and I have journeyed more than 1,500 miles across 20 Alabama counties to locate, visit, and photograph sites of Native American habitation and removal for our latest GUSDUGGER collaborative wet-plate collodion project. Filmmaker Jason Wallis joined us for a shoot in June and made this video featuring music by Wooden Wand, from the new album, Clipper Ship.

Alice, 21, from GOOD BAD PEOPLE: Methamphetamine Use on Sand Mountain, Marshall County, Ala.

“Like Larry Clark’s Tulsa, the controversial 1971 book of photographs depicting Clark's own social scene of young people in Tulsa, shooting amphetamine, having sex and playing with guns, Good Bad People could be viewed as sensationalistic. But unlike Tulsa, which uses very little text and relies on the images to tell the story, Ragland and Copes augment the images with extensive captions to provide context for each of their subjects. "With a project like this, it’s easy to sensationalize, to demonize, to really cut short the depth of someone who uses an illicit substance or is poor or is marginalized in some way," Ragland says. "I really wanted to focus on personal narratives, even if it’s not implicit in the photographs, to get to that sense of nuance and depth."
Read David Alm's story here: This Controversial Project Spotlights Meth And The People Who Use It.

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06.14.17 // ALABAMA STATE COUNCIL ON THE ARTS
Twenty years ago, near to the day, mom and I drove down to the state capitol in Montgomery where I was awarded an Alabama State Council on the Arts scholarship. A few of my photographs were exhibited (one of my very first art shows), there was a luncheon, and a lot of fanfare. It was a great – and formative – day. With that ASCA scholarship I pursued a degree in art that helped make my dreams of becoming a documentary photographer come true, and four short years later I began a career that has since taken me from war zones to National Geographic, and from the Oval Office back home to Alabama.
Today has been another great day, with news that I have been awarded an Alabama State Council on the Arts Fellowship Grant. I’m profoundly encouraged by ASCA's significant support – particularly as I near completion of a body of work on methamphetamine use on Sand Mountain – and I am especially grateful for the platform from which I may more broadly challenge the existing stereotypes attendant with poverty and addiction in my home state.
An exhibition of the Sand Mountain work will be scheduled for Montgomery next year; award citations and the full cohort of 2017-18 fellows can be seen here: http://arts.alabama.gov/news_detail.aspx?ID=12300

The Red Clay Survey“takes the pulse” of contemporary Southern art through a selection of works in all styles and media determined by a nationally recognized juror. The works in The Red Clay Survey typically range in style from the traditional to the avant-garde and encompass painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, fine craft, photography and mixed media works. These works reflect the multifaceted state of today’s art. 80 works were selected by juror Gerry Bergstein from more than 1500 entries from artists across an 11-state region.
Selected for the exhibition is a piece from my current collaborative project with Cary Norton, Where You Come From is Gone. The show runs July 9 – September 24, 2017; a preview party is scheduled for Saturday, July 8, 2017, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

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04.22.17 // EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALL RIGHT AT CANDELA

Installation of Everything Is Going To Be All Right at Candela Books + Gallery

EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALL RIGHT will be exhibited at Candela Books + Gallery May 4–June 24 in Richmond, Va. A preview reception and artist talk is scheduled for Thursday, May 4, 5-8pm, with a public opening Friday, May 5, 5-9pm. EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALL RIGHT is a meditation on the themes from Walker Percy’s 1962 novel, The Moviegoer, and will be presented as a site-specific print installation. For more, see recent interviews with Strant Magazine and FotoRoom.

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03.01.17 // GOOD BAD PEOPLE ON SPRINGER NATURE'S 'BEFORE THE ABSTRACT' PODCAST

“Wishing to show the humanity and complexity of the lives of people who turn to drugs and crime, criminologist Heith Copes embarks on a photo ethnography of methamphetamine use in rural Alabama. But what begins as a research project quickly becomes a life-altering lesson in the truth behind stereotypes, the importance of empathy, and the unparalleled power of human connection. Listen to Heith recount his time spent on Sand Mountain and meet the individuals from his story, captured in the emotional photo series GOOD BAD PEOPLE: Methamphetamine Use on Sand Mountain by Jared Ragland.”
Stream the podcast here: http://www.beforetheabstract.com/2017/03/01/caught-being-stupid/

Installation of Everything Is Going To Be All Right at Mobile Museum of Art

On the eve of the Alabama’s Bicentennial celebration of statehood, Contemporary Alabama Photography explores how our understanding of Alabama identity, culture, and history have been interpreted and formed through the photographic arts today. Curated by Richard McCabe, this exhibition was conceptualized and organized to compliment Mobile Museum of Art’s CHRISTENBERRY: In Alabama. Contemporary Alabama Photography looks to the current trajectory of photography being practiced throughout Alabama, and highlights the work of eleven emerging, mid-career, and established photographers:
April DobbinsJenny FineZachary McCauleyJerry SiegelChuck HemardPatrick OwensMichael MeadsMarion “Pinky” BassDevin LunsfordCelestia MorganJared Ragland
From exhibition curator, Richard McCabe: There is an instinctive rapport between these photographers and William Christenberry. All draw similar inspiration from the history of photography and their own Alabama history. These contemporary Alabama photographers build upon the historical art context established by Christenberry, and expand the visual narrative of Alabama into new directions of subject matter, content, and process. As the technology of photography constantly changes, the Southern tradition of storytelling remains central. Their work, while based in reality, transcends the real into an idealized mythic romanticism of a troubled/beautiful/complex place. This is photography made by artists with an innate and esoteric understanding of the region.

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01.22.17 // PARADISE ROAD / PARADISE OUT-FRONT OPENS AT THE SOUTHERN

Selections from the series, eequivalentss, featured in Paradise: Out-Front

“In American culture, the belief persists that through one's own efforts, a personal paradise is achievable. But what does that paradise look like? Does it really exist?”
On the heels of the upcoming presidential inauguration, Eliot Dudik's new series Paradise Road debuts at The Southern in a two-part exhibition Paradise Road/Paradise Out-Front.
The exhibition opens Friday, January 27, 2017 with a reception: 7-10pm and runs through February 26 in Charleston, SC.
About Paradise Road | Paradise Out-Front:
There are roughly 196 Paradise Roads in the continental United States; Eliot Dudik has photographed over 90 to date. In describing his motivation for the project, Dudik expressed he wanted to “drive to paradise and see what was there,” seeing this project as a means to “take the temperature of the country.” After all, what better way to understand the state of America than by surveying its paradises?
For Paradise Out-Front Dudik curated a group of thirteen photographers tasked to respond with their own ideas of ‘paradise.’ This second part of the overall exhibition will feature unorthodox and personal photographic works from Ben Alper, Ian van Coller, Mark Dorf, Matt Eich, Frances Jakubek, Thalassa Raasch, Jared Ragland, Justin James Reed, Anastasia Samoylova, Bryan Schutmaat, Aline Smithson, Katherine Squier, and Susan Worsham.
Visit www.thesouthern.gallery/paradise-road for full artist biographies and info.
Gallery hours: Wednesday-Sunday 12-6pm.
**Update: American Photo names Paradise Road | Paradise Out-Front one of the best photography exhibitions of Winter 2017.

Zach Nader’s richly patterned, colorful digital works engage in ideas of multiplicity, repetition, and simultaneity. By breaking down the ubiquitous images found in advertising, fashion, and commerce through a series of automated software techniques and digitally manipulated actions, Nader creates a unique visual language that, through acts of erasure, camouflage, and obfuscation, deconstructs familiar source images to render new, nuanced works from digital interference and visual artifacts.
Nader’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally including a month-long nightly video installation on 23 advertisement billboards as part of Midnight Moment, New York’s Times Square. His work has also been shown at Centre Pompidou Paris, France; Haus der elektronischen Künste, Basel, Switzerland; Eyebeam, New York, NY; College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, among others. Nader completed an Art & Science Residency at The Pioneer Works Center for Art and Innovation in Brooklyn, NY and has been a featured speaker at ICP-Bard, New York, NY and Bard at Simon Rock, Great Barrington, MA and others. Zach Nader is represented by Microscope Gallery in New York.
Read the press release HERE.

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01.20.17 // THANKS OBAMA

Official White House photo by Pete Souza
Three years ago, almost to the day, I left the White House for a new life back home in Alabama. As he does with all departing staffers, the President invited me into the Oval Office for a few moments to say goodbye and have a photo made. He was gracious with his time and asked me about my plans to return home, and we discussed my upcoming creative projects and our mutual love of Walker Percy’s writing.

Through editing countless photographs made by White House photographers Pete Souza, Chuck Kennedy, and Lawrence Jackson, I was witness to the President's daily life and able to see and sift a moment-by-moment record of his official public duties and his private moments. And now as many of the photographs I helped edit and share with the world are being reviewed again in these final days and hours of his presidency, I too have had the chance to reflect on these last few years and consider who I was three years ago and who I've become since. Some of the goals I shared with the President that day in the Oval Office have been met, others exceeded, some not nearly reached. In the last three years I've experienced great joy and unexpected success as well as deep disappointment and unimaginable loss.

In my life, and now in the life of our Nation, the idea of Hope is at risk of being eclipsed by Fear. But I hold on to the prospect that through whatever comes next - victory or failure, happiness or heartbreak - I, and my fellow citizens, may be able to face it with the same kind of deep conviction, humor, intelligence, class and integrity that I saw exercised each day by President Obama as he wielded a profound power with an even more profound sense of kindness, grace, and humility.

Three years ago I was able to thank the president for the opportunity to help document his and his family's life. If given the chance to do it again today, I would thank him for leading our Nation as a great president and exemplifying what it is to be a great man.